Miami Heat rotations should not be determined by money
It seems like so far this season, not every Miami Heat player is actually earning their playing time.
Are minutes played in the NBA earned or deserved?
Head coach Erik Spoelstra must start asking himself that question, as the Miami Heat roster continues to get healthy. Especially given that his rotation decisions were a large reason why the team nearly turned last night’s 18-point lead, into a loss.
With Justise Winslow back in the lineup, Derrick Jones Jr. and a returning Wayne Ellington were the odd men out of the nine man rotation. Despite the win, they should not have been the guys sitting.
That designation goes to Tyler Johnson.
And there lies coach Spoelstra’s dilemma.
The weight of the remaining two-year, $39 million front office mistakes should not determine Johnson’s playing time.
Ira Winderman of the Sun-Sentinel seems to agree:
"“Something is going to have to give when Justise Winslow and Wayne Ellington first return and then when James Johnson and Dion Waiters eventually follow. I can’t see Tyler Johnson remaining a 27-minute player based on his output.”"
Winslow’s return dropped Johnson to a 23-minute a game player, but the stance is no different when one takes in the numbers.
The first year of his four-year deal resulted in a career-high average of 11.7 points, 4.0 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game.
However, since then, his stats have steadily declined to 7.0 points, 1.8 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game, engulfed in 36 percent field goal shooting, while hitting 16.7 percent from behind the 3-point line.
Paltry numbers like those do not deserve to be in a rotation; not when a team is packed enough to go 11 deep–even 13 when Dion Waiters and James Johnson come back.
Making the move to leave T. Johnson in his warmups should neither be hard to make, or explain. The same was done to Hassan Whiteside and his max deal last season, due to lack of effort.
On the flipside, Johnson’s effort has been there, but his production has been nothing.
Sadly, to the point where any bit of trade value that he earned, has just about all diminished.
If you cannot contribute, you should not play. It is a simple concept that should be used by teams who claim that they want to compete.
Contracts should not matter; even if an organization is reluctant to admit that they made a $50 million blunder.
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Just some food for thought.